Conventionally, satellites communicate with the Earth's surface via (or by or through) stationary ground stations. Data exchange between the satellite and the stationary ground station thereby takes place directly by radio. This has the disadvantage that communication is possible only when there is visual contact between the satellite and the ground station. Data exchange is thus complex and, for the period between ground station contacts (which for conventional Earth observation satellites is typically several orbits and several hours), it is necessary to work with timelines via which times for observation operations of the satellite and for data exchange with the Earth are determined in advance. An interactive operation of the satellite and the payload is possible only for the brief period of time during which the satellite is flying over the ground station (which is typically not more than 8 minutes). Relay satellites are in some cases also used for the pure transfer of satellite reference data. However, satellite control does not take place via such relay satellites, nor do they allow a satellite to be reached permanently.
There are further known from the prior art so-called space-based Internet systems, which permit IP-based communication via satellites with the interposition of a radio transmission. Examples of such space-based Internet systems are the OneWeb and O3B systems, which are at the planning stage. Space-based Internet systems use a large number of satellites with radio terminals located thereon. These terminals allow data to be transferred in fixed frequency bands via IP-based protocols. Via the satellites of the space-based Internet system, Internet requests from one point on the Earth's surface are forwarded to other points, which are able to respond to the requests, again with the interposition of the satellites of the space-based Internet system. Some of the Internet communication thus takes place via the space-based system.
Space-based Internet systems allow communication via Internet in inaccessible regions, such as at sea, in jungle regions or in polar regions. For this purpose, an Internet terminal is set up in such regions on the ground or on a ship, which Internet terminal communicates by radio with the satellites of the space-based Internet system. The space-based Internet system thus represents a permanent, bidirectional and interactive communication bridge between the remote Internet terminal and a main station, such as, for example, a research institute, an agency or a logistics company.